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Divrei
Rabbi Jerry
Rabbi
Jerry Seidler
TempleSinai
Sukkot Unmasks the Illusion of Permanence
The Festival of Sukkot is as meaningful a holiday for us to celebrate as it is fun. The fun part is rather obvious, I should think. It's a hoot to build, erect or put up a sukkah with family and friends. Decorating a sukkah with autumn fruits and vegetables, stalks, crafts, and other chazerai is a "smiler" for kids of all ages. And, of course, we all enjoy sitting in a sukkah to eat, play, talk, and yes, perhaps even pray a little. Celebrating Sukkot is in many ways the season's last pleasurable outdoor group activity before the onset of winter and snow. At Temple Sinai this year, we will have numerous opportunities to join together (yachad) in the fun of Sukkot and Simchat Torah, the festival's last day. Come and see how good and pleasant Sukkot can be!
However, for all the enjoyment Sukkot can offer, it is very much an occasion for spiritually serious business. The sukkah is a temporary dwelling. According to our tradition, the sukkah commemorates the make-shift tents and living quarters our ancestors relied upon during their forty-year desert wanderings after Egyptian liberation, and when they would go out into the fields at harvest time. But for me, it is the symbolic temporariness of the sukkah which should attract our spiritual attention, and which underscores the core significance of the holiday.
Sukkot is here to remind us that nothing in this created world is permanent. Everything about life is temporary, and nothing lasts forever. To recognize the inherent transient nature of existence is in every respect a blessing, because it draws us to cherish each thing - event, moment, or person - as an infinite gift of our fleeting experience. This temporal quality of our being should prevent us from taking any aspect of life for granted, and is what makes living so vital, precious and wondrous.
The spiritual power of Sukkot, then, is that it unmasks the humanly constructed illusion of permanence. Through the concept of permanence, we attempt to lull ourselves into false notions that certain things should not, and therefore do not and cannot, change. Existentially, though, change is a relentless process. What is familiar today will undoubtedly not be there on one tomorrow. In other words, all creation is a sukkah; all life, sukkah dwellers.
The splendor of Sukkot radiates two spiritual insights based upon Judaism's awareness of creation's temporariness. To be temporary implies continuous gain and loss, polarities which Sukkot beckons us to embrace. Sukkot invites us to welcome newness, change, innovation and transitions as divine treasures to savor. Reciprocally, Sukkot also teaches us to accept loss as a natural phenomenon for the good, even as we might have to struggle through the pain it can cause. Between gain and loss, Sukkot awakens us to be fully appreciative and thankful for what is, which is why in the final analysis Sukkot is the Jewish Thanksgiving.
As we observe Sukkot this year, may the poetry of Psalm 100 inspire us: "Enter into God's gates with thanksgiving, and into God's courts with praise; thank God, and bless God's name; YHVH is good." May it be so, and may you find it so. Kein y'hi ratzon.
Kol Nidrei, as well as Sukkot and Simchat Torah evening services will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Kol Nidrei is on October 1.
To prepare for Sukkot, volunteers are needed to assemble and erect our temple sukkah on Sunday, October 1, starting at 9:30 a.m. If you can help, please let Marty Bates know at 877-7696.
The Sukkot service on October 6 will be preceded by a pot luck dinner. Doors will open at 6 p.m. We’ll begin eating at 6:30 p.m. This service will also honor our new members.
Our joyous Simchat Torah service on October 13 will feature Israeli folk dancing with Dorothy Lewis, a professional dancer, at the Oneg Yom Tov.
We will disassemble our sukkah at the end of the holiday, on Sunday, October 15, starting at 10 a.m. Please call Marty if you can help.
Blessings,
Rabbi
Jerry
Rabbi
Jerry H. Seidler
(716) 834-0708
www.jrf.org/templesinai
Updated:
Thursday, September 21, 2006
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